


disappearing act

by ZinniaRae



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics), Red Hood/Arsenal (Comics)
Genre: adventures in babysitting, the spin off nobody wanted
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-07
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:33:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24591607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZinniaRae/pseuds/ZinniaRae
Summary: When Jason and Roy disappear to who-knows-where on their honeymoon, the rest of the family is stuck babysitting Lian.How much trouble could Lian really be?
Relationships: Barbara Gordon/Dick Grayson, mentioned Jason Todd/Roy Harper - Relationship
Comments: 2
Kudos: 71





	disappearing act

**Author's Note:**

> This is a Dad Hood spin off that's been sitting in my drafts for literal years. I thought you all deserved it.

“Lian!” Tim’s voice was clearly exasperated as he called for the six year old. It had been less than twenty-four hours since Jason and Roy disappeared off to _God_ knows where for their honeymoon. They refused to tell anybody, in the off chance they’d be interrupted, leaving only their cell phones on in case of emergency with Lian. The hours had been slowly draining the _life_ out of Tim. Technically, Bruce and Alfred had been tasked with the job of watching Lian, but with Bruce’s day job and night job -- and giving (forcing) Alfred to take a few days off after the stress of the wedding...it was left up to the two boys still at home in the manor. 

Mainly, it was left up to Tim.

He leaned against the stair railing, rubbing at his temples. “ _Lian_ !” He called again, the exasperation turning to frustration. It was _supposed_ to be bath time. Except when he mentioned it being bath time, she ran off giggling. The manor was _huge_ and there was no way in hell Tim could search every room for the child. He was just...hoping that calling her would do the trick.

She was always so well behaved for Jason.

Footsteps echoed down the wooden stairs and Tim breathed a sigh of relief. Okay, maybe Lian wasn’t as wild as he assumed she would be; she was a good kid. That thought quickly disappeared when ocean blue eyes landed on Damian instead of Lian. His face fell and he sighed. “Damian, have you seen Lian?”

“You were supposed to be watching her, Drake.”

“Yes, I realize.” Tim pushed off of the stair railing and ran a hand through his hair, properly messing it up.. “But she ran off when I mentioned bath time and I thought you might have passed her.”

“I was in my room and I did not see her.” Damian shrugged before moving to go past Tim, only to be stopped by the other boy. “I was _going_ to get a slice of leftover wedding cake, if you don’t mind.” He grumbled.

“I _do_ mind because if we can’t find Lian before Roy and Jason get home, we’re both - “ He drew a finger across his throat. “So you should mind too.”

Sighing, Damian’s emerald eyes focused on glaring at Tim for a moment before murmuring, “They’re not returning for _three_ more days.”

“And do you _really_ think they’re going to manage being away from Lian for that long? I give it another twenty-four hours.”

His lips scrunched to the side, thinking it over and it was Damian’s turn to let out an exasperated sigh. “Alright. I’ll help you look. How hard can it be to find a six year old?”

“You’re totally forgetting that Jason and Roy raised this child. _And_ her mother is a trained assassin.”

“Meaning this should be a total breeze for me.” Damian shrugged, clearly cocky in his ability to find Lian.

*******

Two hours later, Damian and Tim fell back onto the living room couch, their body language clearly defeated and panic in their minds. If they had lost Lian, they were _dead_. It wasn’t even a fear of Jason or Roy killing them, mostly because they were away God knew where and Bruce and Alfred would get to them first. Tim sat forward, elbows resting on his knees and fingers running through his hair. “How can a six year old disappear so easily?” He asked in disbelief. 

“The manor is rather large.” Damian pointed out. “Plus, you brought up her training before, or bloodline, rather. When I was her age - “

“Lian wasn’t raised playing with swords and crossbows, Damian. She played with dolls.”

“Yes, but still. Wait. What are you doing, Drake?” Tim had reached into the pocket of his jeans and grabbed his phone, currently dialing a number that Damian couldn’t see from his current position. “You aren’t calling Todd and Harper yet, are you?”

*******

“It was my only option, Damian.” 

“You have plenty of other options, Drake.” Damian grumbled, arms crossed over his chest. His bottom lip was jutting out the slightest in an all too familiar pout, the one that he always used when he didn’t get his way. 

“You two _lost_ Lian?!” Barbara’s green eyes were aflame as she stared at the two of them, shaking her head in clear annoyance. “How in the _hell_ did you lose her?”

“Now in their defense, actually,” Dick paused and looked between his two younger brothers. “Yeah, I can’t defend you two on this one. How can you be so irresponsible?”

“Are you lecturing _us_ about responsibility, Dick?” Tim blinked.

“Hey! I didn’t lose my brother’s daughter.”

“Now really isn’t the best time to be arguing.” Barbara said with a sigh. “We need to find, Lian.” 

“Preferably before Bruce gets home and kills all of us.” Dick added with a sigh.

*******

Dick sighed, opening the door to yet another closed off bedroom. “You’d think with all of our training we’d at least _hear_ her.” He mumbled to Barbara, letting her in the room first. “How can a six year old just disappear -- or at least fool us all?”

“It’s what kids do, Dick.” She sighed, stopping to look in the closet. “I mean, I bet you were a crazy kid when you were Lian’s age.”

A smirk crossed his face before he shrugged a shoulder, bending down to look under the bed. Sure it was unlikely she could even _fit_ under the bed of the guest room but he wasn’t leaving any rock unturned when it came to finding her. “I did do some pretty crazy stuff.” He admitted after a moment of reflection. “Actually, one time, I hid in the elephant’s trailer and my parents had the whole circus looking for me before a show…”

“Adorable.” Barbara commented, closing the closet door and sighing. “She’s not in here. Is she?”

Standing up, Dick shook his head, his smile falling slightly. “Unless she’s in the ceiling or something, she’s definitely not in here.” He sighed again, crossing the room over to where Barbara stood and looping his arms around her waist. He rested his chin on top of her head, giving her a squeeze. “Hey, we’ll find her soon. The manor’s huge, when Tim and Damian said they checked everywhere, I highly doubt they did.”

“I hope you’re right.” Barbara murmured, lifting her head up and kissing his jawline. “Let’s move on to the next room and pray Tim and Damian are having better luck.” She said softly. 

*******

“Alfred’s going to be home any minute.” Tim muttered, mostly to himself, as he pushed open the door to one of the hall closets. He was greeted by neatly folded linens, not a giggly six year old girl, amused her uncles had found her _finally_. 

“We can always tell him Lian’s asleep.” Damian pointed out, leaning against the wall as Tim searched the closet. 

“And if she appears, say, in his room in the middle of the night?” countered Tim. Damian pursed his lips, saying nothing in response. “Thought so.” He sighed, closing the closet door. “C’mon. There’s only a few more rooms on this side of the house to check. Then we’re checking the cave and _god_ , I pray Lian isn’t down there.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time. Besides, Goliath will keep her out of trouble.” Damian said as he pushed off the wall, moving toward the next door on their path. There was a small pause, realization dawning over him. “Drake?”

“Yes?”

“It is so ingrained in us to avoid a certain room that has any of us thought to actually check it?”

“Bruce’s room? It’s at the end of the hall, we’ll check it - wait.” Tim shook the previous thought from his head, catching onto what Damian was getting at. “Jason’s room?” His voice was quieter than it really needed to be. Jason’s room had always been off limits. At first, it was because it was left the same as it was when he died. It was a memorial of sorts and Tim knew better than to bother anything. When it came out that Jason was alive, it was still left untouched. Jason knew exactly where everything was and if anybody touched anything...there would be hell. Only Alfred was allowed inside to dust each week.

“Doesn’t it make sense that if Lian found Jason’s room she’d probably be in there?” 

“Let’s go.” Tim said, turning and heading toward the wing of the house that housed Jason’s room.

It seemed like they weren’t the only ones with the idea. Just as they turned the corner, Dick and Barbara were doing the same thing.

“Jason’s room?” Tim asked.

“Jason’s room.” confirmed Dick. 

The door was pulled to, but not completely closed. That was an abnormality. Now, it was totally probable that somebody wandered into the room during the reception the day before or maybe Jason poked his head in and didn’t close the door all the way. It wasn’t unlikely, but the gut feeling was that Lian had hidden away there. Tim reached for the door knob, pushing the door open the rest of the way. 

Curled up in the center of Jason’s bed, the blanket wrapped around her like she was a little burrito, Lian was snoring quietly. In front of her laid a book, one that Lian was no doubt too young to read and comprehend, but she had grabbed it from Jason’s bedside table anyway. 

“Good call, Damian.” Tim said, crossing his arms over his chest. He looked over to the others and sighed. “Should we move her or let her sleep here?” 

“We’re definitely not moving her.”


End file.
